What Is Your Name? (Mark 5:1-20)

Who are we anyways? What is our identity? We’re humans made in God’s image and in his likeness. Why is it hard to know the truth who we are and what we are? It’s because man has been fallen and lost in darkness and blindness since Adam. The story of the demon-possessed man displays well the blindness of humans in darkness. It seems that human frustrations and sufferings are endless without exit. It is hard and difficult for man to see that they are in the sheer darkness under the control of the murderer and the father of lie, the devil. The evil spirit is invisible but real. He is cunningly deceiving and victimizing people and hence tormenting them relentlessly. Where is the end of torment and suffering? It is Jesus Christ who is the way out. God is compassionate and merciful and kind and loving. The Father God sent his begotten Son to this world that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Christ is the way to get out of the darkness and to come to the Father. Christ paid the ransom price, so believe in him and God will set free from the bondage of slavery. And we’re called sons of God. That’s what we are in Christ. We’ve been justified and sanctified and glorified by the blood of Christ. Truly, pains and sufferings are real in human lives. However, they are working together to teach the mystery of Christ that sin must be put to death. It is so because the flesh cannot please God, nor obey him. To help and rescue the fallen race Jesus died and shed his blood for us. Through his death he paid the ransom price in order to set free man from the bondage and to bring them into the righteousness of God.

“They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ For Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.’ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.” (Mark 5:1-20)

First, the reality is that the devil is a real being, not a fictitious one. We know that the devil was an angel, the mighty angel. But he left his position and rebelled against God the Creator, completely misunderstanding that he would be above the Maker. He intentionally ignored the truth that he was a creature made by the hand of God. Jesus revealed the truth about the devil, saying “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) First of all, he cunningly approached the woman in the garden and deceived her as he wished and then the woman gave Adam the forbidden fruit of the tree and he ate it. It’s the fall of mankind. All man is born in Adam. The damage the devil made against humanity is so huge and big that it demands the life of the Son. The devil has been keeping on deceiving and murdering the victims like a roaring lion.

In this story at the Gerasenes, a victim is crying out and tormenting himself with stones while living in the tombs and the mountains. He is demon-possessed. The townspeople try to get hold of him with the chains and irons but he tears them apart. No one is strong enough to subdue him. Night and day, he cries out and cuts himself with stones, wandering around in the tombs and in the hills. The man is completely wasting his life, being a great burden to his families and community and terrorizing the whole town. He is constantly moving around, but going nowhere, relentlessly pushing himself to the edge of self-killing. It demonstrates how much the devil is hurting and victimizing the man. He is totally powerless and helpless to do anything, though he desperately urges to get out of the mess. No one can do anything, nor his families, nor any doctors, nor any authority or power. No one can have him stop hurting himself. No one can get him out of the tombs. It’s the reality of mankind. It’s the great dilemma of humanism which says that humans can help humans but they cannot. This picture clearly tells it is impossible for humans to help humans. It’s beyond human’s capability. It’s in the divine realm.

Second, the help has come to the man! It is the Lord Jesus Christ. To help and rescue the man, the Son of Man has come down to the earth as a man. The Father in heaven heard the cry of the man and sent his Son. As soon as the man hears the voice of the Son, he immediately comes out of the tombs and runs to him, begging not to torture him but leave him alone because Jesus had already said the impure spirit to come out of him. Jesus asks his name and he answers that he is Region because they are many. The evil spirits plead not to drive them out of the area again and again. Instead, the demons beg Jesus to send them among the pigs and allow them to go into them. Jesus allows and the demons go into the pigs about two thousand in number and they rush down the steep bank and into the lake and are drowned. That’s the price for redeeming the man. Jesus paid the price to redeem the humanity on a cross with his blood. This is how God loves man. God heard the cry of man and sent his Son to pay the ransom. While we were still sinners, God loved us and sacrificed his Son for our redemption.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18)

No one can release the man from bondage. Nothing can. But Jesus can because he is stronger than the devil. In fact, he is the Maker of all things. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.” (Luke 11:21-22) Jesus spoke to the evil spirits to come out of him and they obeyed. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)

Third, go and tell how much the Lord has done for you and how much he has had mercy on him. The man wants to follow and be with the Lord Jesus. However, Jesus tells him to go home to his own people and tell how much the Lord has done for him and how much he has had mercy on him. He obeys Jesus and begins to tell what Jesus has done for him and people heard him are amazed. In the meantime, the townspeople in the Decapolis come to Jesus and ask him to leave because they are afraid of the financial loss. God loves all peoples and gives his grace and mercy to whomever comes and asks. There is no favoritism in God. He is just and faithful and fair to all peoples whether Jews or Gentiles. God has demonstrated his unfailing love through the Son whom he sent according to the promises spoken by the Law and the Prophets. The man healed and freed from the demonic power through Jesus’ words chooses to obey him and go tell the story of the Lord. And the people in the region hear the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ and are thrilled to believe in him. The story of Jesus spreads and spreads to all directions. Still, some accept the good news with thanks and some don’t. So says the Scripture. “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” (Revelation 22:11)

What does this story teaches us? First of all, the devil is not an independent agent who works for his own agenda. Rather, he is a God’s creature made as an angel. Note that the man immediately came out of the tombs as soon as Jesus touched the land in the seashore. Another note is that the devil begged again and again to Jesus not to send them out of the region. It shows that the demons believe God and shudder (James 2:19). See that though he demonstrated the power to tear apart the chains and break the irons and furthermore to torture him, having him roam and wander and even hurt himself in the hills and in the mountains, he couldn’t touch his life, nor other people’s lives. It had happened to Job, an Old saint who lost everything including his children all at once by the work of the devil whom the Lord God allowed him to do with one condition that he would not touch his life. Yes, the demons hurt and torment and make humans miserable. However, he is not the cause of human sufferings but an instrument of God to do what he is as a murderer and the father of lie. The demons can use their power given by God and no more. The devil is totally and completely under control in God and Christ the Lord.

Secondly, the mystery of Christ is revealed in this story. We might ask a question like why God is allowing such a pain and suffering unto man. It is a hard question. Why is such a compassionate and merciful God doing this? Because God made man in his own image and in his likeness. He made man as a freeman, not as a slave. God does not coarse the choice of man but gives the perfect freedom. God did not make man obey like robots. Rather, God made man in his own image to be like him, obeying him voluntarily and freely. Jesus set the example of how to obey God as the second Adam. The Son of God Jesus Christ obeyed the Father even to death on a cross. And the Father honored and exalted the Son to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. God raised the Son from the dead on the third day. It is the resurrection power of God. God wants us to live by the power of resurrection, not by the flesh. This is the mystery of Christ. The Son of God was under pressure and persecution in his earthly life. See that the Son of Man was sinless and yet he was treated and crucified like a criminal by the world. Why? Because he was loaded and made to be sin by the Father God instead of the sin of the world. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) God made his own Son to be sin for us and consequently and inevitably he must be put to death. God did not even spare the Son for us because the wages of sin is death.

So, God is allowing us pains and sufferings in order for us to learn how to handle lives and what is the way to life. The example demonstrated by the demon-possessed man lived in the tombs tells that humans cannot handle their lives no matter how much determined and committed. There is no way out of confusion and darkness since deceived and fallen. There is no way for humans to help others. But human pride is stubborn and tenacious to admit the truth that they cannot help themselves. That pride is high like mountains and deep like valleys and wide like oceans and long like rivers. The Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." (James 4:6) Jesus warns, saying “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15) The mystery of Christ says that humanity is utterly impotent in handling our lives pressured by the power of sin and death. It also says that the redeemed humanity is competent in serving and obeying God in Christ. That confidence is our Lord Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the law through his death and his blood.

“Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

To put off the old flesh, it takes the life of the Son. That much is hard to put down pride. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. Jesus came from God and wet back to the Father through the way of the cross. This is the way to eternal life because Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) We’re now sons of God. That’s our new name in Christ. We’ve crossed over death and been adopted as beloved sons of God. Our journey on the earth will continue in troubles and difficulties through which we may learn how to handle lives in Christ. Pressures will be coming according to the Lord’s divine plan. So that we may be humble and poor in spirit and live in the Spirit. So that we may be living under the new covenant, “Nothing coming from me, everything coming from God.” It is Jesus living in us because we died to sin with Christ.

“Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.

July 19, 2018

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